Auditions for ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’ at The University of Findlay are Dec. 3 and 4

Theater auditions for “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” are at 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 3, and at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4, at The University of Findlay in the Egner Center for the Performing Arts, Room 209.

Performance dates are Wednesday through Sunday, Feb. 20-24. The script is on reserve at Shafer Library.

The performance incorporates 24-30 roles for both men and women. Those who audition will be asked to sing a 16-bar cut from an up-tempo song (no ballads). An accompanist will be provided, and performers are asked to dress for movement.

Technical crews also are needed for lights, sound, props, set construction and more.

Contact Micheal F. Anders, Ph.D., producer and music director, at anders@findlay.edu or 419-434-4717.

“The Mystery of Edwin Drood” is based on the unfinished novel of the same title by Charles Dickens. For this performance, the book, music and lyrics are by Rupert Holmes.

This wildly warm-hearted musical begins when the Music Hall Royale (a hilariously loony Victorian musical troupe) “puts on” its flamboyant rendition of an unfinished Dickens mystery. The story deals with John Jasper, a Jekyll-and-Hyde choirmaster, who is madly in love with his music student, the fair Rosa Bud. Rosa is, in turn, engaged to Jasper’s nephew, young Edwin Drood. The title character disappears mysteriously one dark and stormy Christmas Eve, and a murder-mystery begins.

The giddy playfulness of this play-within-a-play draws the audience toward one of the musical’s most talked-about features, which allows the audience to vote on the solution as a prelude to a most unusual and hilarious finale!

Originally produced by the New York Shakespeare Festival, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” transferred to Broadway’s Imperial Theatre and ran for 608 performances. It has also twice played London’s West End, and a new revival opened on Broadway this fall.